European Jews Want Action on Anti-Semitism

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) has asked Czech premier Petr Necas to urge other EU leaders to tackle possible threats against Europe’s Jewish and other minority communities, EJC President Moshe Kantor said.

Kantor warned of further attacks from Muslim extremists on the continent due to a potential escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

“The new anti-Semitism is found amongst the extreme enclave Muslim communities in Europe, which [use the situation in the Middle East] as an excuse to attack Jews, Jewish sites and institutions,” Kantor said at the EJC executive meeting in Prague on Thursday.

Necas reportedly agreed to support the strategy ahead of a private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Thursday.

EJC Czech Representative Tomas Kraus said the initiative has found support among Europe’s Muslims.

“Most of the Muslim leaders were just as shocked by the recent attack in Toulouse as we were and said it would hurt them too,” he told JTA, referring to the March attacks in France by a Muslim extremist who murdered seven people, including a rabbi and three Jewish day school children.